MS Dhoni has squashed the rumours of retiring from IPL, but once he does in the future, how will it impact the brand of Chennai Super Kings?
Former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni aka MSD, surprised everyone by announcing his retirement on 15th August 2020 at 07:29 pm, from all forms of international cricket. Dhoni played his last ODI for India on 9th July 2019 against NZ in World Cup 2019.
After he retired from international cricket, the focus has shifted towards Dhoni’s career in IPL. CSK endured a difficult IPL 2020 campaign, failing to finish in the top for this first time in their history.
As the season is set to end in a week, there were speculations about Dhoni retiring from IPL, but he squashed those rumours in CSK’s last game of the season. He has delayed the inevitable. In the next couple of years, when he does retire, it will come as a big blow for CSK both in terms of losing one of the most successful International captains as well as suffering losses in terms of fan following and sponsorship revenue.
According to the Duff & Phelps Celebrity Brand Valuation study, Dhoni had a brand value of $41.2 million in 2019, placing him at the ninth spot. Along with Virat Kohli, Dhoni was the only other cricketer on this list.
Dhoni has a large fan following across the globe, making him an attractive celebrity for brands. If Dhoni bids goodbye to cricket after this IPL season in the future, CSK may have to go all out to get a world-class player that has a good brand value too.
The brand value of the Chennai Super Kings franchise in IPL in 2019 was amounted to around $105 million. A major chunk of this value can be attributed to Dhoni. Since signing Dhoni is much more expensive for the brands, they try to collaborate with CSK to get visibility at the biggest stage when Dhoni has commercial duties with the IPL team.
With Dhoni being one of the most influential Indian celebrity, his retirement will automatically decrease the sponsorship deals for CSK. The Chennai based franchises may see a dip in the revenue from sponsorships. They will have to find the right replacement for him on and off the pitch to make sure that CSK achieves success on both grounds.
By Aashish Jaju